Japan Kebari: Hiromichi Fuji

Last July during my stay in Japan I had the opportunity and the privilege of meeting a key figure of the history of modern tenkara: Hiromichi Fuji.

He was one of the first angler to use  tenkara as sport fishing and not a commercial technique and has played a central role in the design of modern tenkara rods and lines. During the afternoon I spent in his workshop we did tie some kebari that we traded before we leave.

Fuji-sensei still ties himself all the kebari sold by the NISSIN firm, his long experience of fly tying is noticeable how fast he ties kebari beautiful, simple and whose effectiveness is famous. His vise in a very low position denotes an economy of gestures and if the table is completely covered by equipment and materials Fuji-sensei knows where each item is at. 

The kebari tied by Fuji-sensei on this afternoon were made on Maruto hooks size 号7 and 号6.

This kebari was inspired by the traditional patterns of commercial fishermen from whom Fuji-sensei made tenkara a sport fishing technique. 

These kebari are neither "dry flies" or  "wet flies" because as Fuji-sensei told himself: "That is the angler who adapts the use of his kebari to the situation."

Hiromichi Fuji technique is based on the legacy of professional fishermen and his observation of fishes. 

Fuji-sensei's kebari are perfectly suitable to his tenkara technique that requires great fly presentation delicacy. The economy of materials in the tying process is not only a matter of aesthetics. 

Today Fuji-sensei is still an active member in the tenkara community in Japan through the Kyoto Kitayama Tenkarakai, participating in numerous events on the theme of tenkara and collaborating in the design of rods and lines for Nissin.

Japan Kebari: Yuzo Sebata

During my stay in Japan I, as tradition dictates, traded kebari with tenkara fishermen I met. The first step of my journey gave me the opportunity to meet Yuzo Sebata who made me gift kebari he tied himself.

Sebata-san is used to tie his kebari without a vise vise and with only a pair of scissors. He preferably uses Gamakatsu hooks in size Kantsuki Yamame 号 8 or 9. We have all seen on the internet kebari inspired by Sebata-san's ties but it is rare to see reproductions made with the materials used by Sebata-san including the model in the center of the picture whose body is made of self-fusing usually used tape by electricians.

The Zenmai-dou of Sebata-san is tied backwards like a sakasa kebari but the whip finish is done behind the hackle after the thread has been wound in wide turns about the shaft so as to solidify the tying.

Sebata uses cock neck, hen neck or parttridge flank feathers for the hackle of his kebari depending on what he has available when he needs to tie some kebari. 

The kebari of Sebata-san are simple because they are the fruit of a long evolution and in line with a technique. Those considered in Japan, and elsewhere by the sincere enthusiasts, as tenkara masters are those who have developed techniques of their own.

I am certainly not the only one who has noticed that all the great tenkara anglers such as Sebata-san, his tenkara career is over fifty years long, have remained faithful to the basic principle of tenkara:
rod, line, kebari.